{"id":127,"date":"2014-12-16T16:03:58","date_gmt":"2014-12-17T00:03:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thenscaler.com\/?p=127"},"modified":"2014-12-16T16:22:15","modified_gmt":"2014-12-17T00:22:15","slug":"model-railroader-meet-arduino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thenscaler.com\/?p=127","title":{"rendered":"Model Railroader, Meet Arduino"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was not even slightly surprised when I opened the December 2014 Model Railroader Magazine<\/a>, to encounter “RFID for Model Railroad Operations.” There seems to be considerable interest in RFID among model railroaders,\u00a0enough that there\u00a0is\u00a0JMRI support<\/a>\u00a0available, and this project looks like a particularly nice piece of work.<\/p>\n

The illustrations caught my eye and I recognized that at the heart of their system is an open source microcontroller board called the Arduino Uno.<\/p>\n

\"Arduino<\/a>

Arduino Uno R3<\/p><\/div>\n

You have to know what you are looking at, or dig into the article to get that bit of information.\u00a0\u00a0A one sentence editor’s note explains that Uno’s are “simple computers that can be programmed to do many useful model railroading tasks.”<\/p>\n

Oh, my.\u00a0 That’s no way to introduce a hobby to a new dance partner.\u00a0We’ve met once before in the June 2013 Model Railroader Magazine<\/a> article “High Tech Turnout Controls.” But everyone was a little shy back then, there was really not enough information about the new partner to truly understand its potential.\u00a0Referring to unseen\u00a0computer code that has to be compiled and uploaded was probably a bit frightening to some.\u00a0And, I suppose it didn’t help that the servo installation presented was, shall we say, a little too utilitarian.<\/p>\n

No matter.\u00a0Lets start over and get the introduction right this time,\u00a0because the dance has already begun!<\/p>\n

What is a Microcontroller?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Microcontrollers are integrated circuit chips that have the basic logic and input\/output capabilities that constitute a simple computer. Microcontroller\u00a0boards place that chip with a few essential external components on a board with power and ways to plug things in. Microcontrollers have been around for a long time; you’ll find them in almost everything electronic.\u00a0 What’s new is how inexpensive the chips and supporting components have become.<\/p>\n

The best known, and by far best developed open source<\/a>\u00a0microcontroller board system is the Arduino Project<\/a>. In their words<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Arduino is a tool for making computers that can sense and control more of the physical world than your desktop computer. It’s an open-source physical computing platform based on a simple microcontroller board, and a development environment for writing software for the board.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Microcontroller boards like Arduino\u00a0are simpler than microcomputers like the Raspberry Pi<\/a> or the Beaglebone<\/a>.\u00a0 Aside from differences in the controller\/processor used, the big difference is that microcomputers come with more peripheral components and memory to allow them to load an operating system.\u00a0 You don’t generally use an “operating system” with a microcontroller: rather the board is designed to run whatever code you’ve loaded in the board’s permanent memory. In essence, your program is<\/strong> the firmware\/operating system for the board.<\/p>\n

The Arduino interacts with the physical world using sensors<\/em> and actuators<\/em>. Sensors can be anything that responds to an external influence:<\/p>\n